The Other Twin

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

*The Musical*

"And that concludes our presentation on the process of saponification..." I glanced to my left and nudged Gavin. He broke off from his thoughts, shooting me an apologetic look before facing the class and nodding with rigor.

"Which as we discussed," he reminded, "is the opposite of the process of esterification." A smattering of applause broke out within the classroom with his words, giving me the opportunity to lean close to his ear.

"At least try to focus on our presentation." I whispered teasingly. Gavin rubbed his face tiredly, not meeting my curious gaze.

"I'm sorry Taryn," a heavy exhale left his lips, a small indication of the burdens troubling him. "There's just a lot on my mind right now."

"Don't worry, I'm not mad." I assured soothingly, scrutinizing Gavin's face for some insight as to what was going on in his head. "Are you okay?" My question was met with another despondent sigh and I had enough tact to switch the topic. "We did decently anyway." A rueful smile creeped onto my face as I continued thoughtfully, "Considering it was a two day job." A crooked grin formed on Gavin's face as he remembered the struggle it had been to get our chemistry project finished. Even now, I could tell that he was just as proud of our presentation as I was.

After finding Mikail at the Runaway Rails, I finally made the sensible decision to call my parents while the Manar siblings had their reunion. The call hadn't been pleasant, involving a lot of yelling from my mom and a near deafened right ear after I'd hung up - but I didn't argue. We had been brash. We had been irresponsible. But sometimes teenage intuition worked out okay. Despite it all, seeing Hafsa gently combing back Mikail's hair with a contented smile, was worth it.

Within minutes of my apology and explanation, my dad drove up to where we were and everything was finally handed off to adult care. I hadn't realized how wonderful it felt, not having to constantly worry about every little thing and found myself savoring the freedom of having others decide, people who were seasoned in the art of decision making and knowing what to do. My dad directed Preston to drive himself and Gavin back home, while my mom piled Hafsa, Mikail and me into the family car to drive back to the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Manar had been called ahead of time and were waiting when we arrived; when they saw us, they immediately ran to the car and embraced their kids. Seeing the whole family together so relieved and thankful was enough to make my own eyes get teary.

The night finally took it's toll on me on the drive back to our house, exhaustion and soreness washed over me as I laid down my head sideways on the empty seats beside me. With my cheek pressed against the leather material, I heard my parents quietly talking and was lulled off to sleep with a deep sense of security. I woke up the next day at twelve to the sound of mom's singing. I slowly made my way down to the kitchen to find her busily humming to herself and found myself unable to look away when I saw her. Instead of her uniform suit, mom was clothed in a simple tee shirt and jeans.

I was stunned, even more so when she told me that she'd taken the day off to take care of me and had called Ellington to tell them that I'd be taking the rest of the week off. The four days of rest were a blissful retreat, a chance for me to disconnect from all the troubles and drama in life and gain some much needed rest. Karyn even, sensed that I needed a break and didn't pester me as much. We actually developed a closer bond through our homework sessions, she dutifully brought in all my assignments each day and worked with me so I wouldn't fall behind. I was in a surreal bubble of happiness - that is, until Gavin called Saturday night, reminding me of our chemistry project. The big semester final project. The one due on Monday.